A point of difference.

The Isle of Man Captive Association is an organisation dedicated to the progression and development of insurance management companies on the Isle of Man. Its growing membership supports and advances a set of guiding principles that each member company can benefit from.

In particular, the Association's continual dialogue and support from Government ensures that the Island's unique offshore jurisdiction and quality of financial services is not only maintained but also enhanced.

News & Events

Mining for kinship

31 January 2013

Gaynor Brough, chairman, Isle of Man Captive Association

Towards the end of last year, I went a-wandering over to the incredible Republic of South Africa. I was interested to have a saunter around the IRMSA Conference in Johannesburg – which turned over some pretty remarkable bygone days.

You find out the most extraordinary facts when you travel, here’s one: We have a pretty balanced migration history with South Africa.

In the 1900s, a number of our Manx populous upped sticks and moved to seek their fortunes in Suid-Afrika. Others were forced by the collapse of the mining industry, -which in its early days - had attracted such a great amount of immigrants to the Island.

South Africa is made up of the north neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east – Swaziland and Mozambique – and Lesotho - an enclave surrounded by breath-taking South African territory.

Many of the copper miners immigrated to the Northern Cape; one such Manxman was a Captain William Kitto, who journeyed to South Africa in 1890. Kitto wrote to the Manx Church Magazine in January 1891 after his arrival at Okiep on the 16th July – saying that he was “met with a very kind and hearty reception”.

Since then, the world has turned upside down and we have a strong expatriate South African community over here too. So many people have emigrated with their families - and some on their own – and have made the Isle of Man home.

We’ve welcomed a profusion of South African businesses that have diversified our (here come the buzzwords…) economic growth. Some of those organisations work within trust, wealth management, ecommerce and one of my very favourite pastimes, gholf (golf)!

This is going to sound like a bit of shameless marketing spin, but I promise you it isn’t: During my visit - I identified over 40 South African businesses that utilised captive insurance companies on the Isle of Man, which makes the Island the largest in captive insurance throughout the Africas. 90% of their reasons for choosing our Island are outstandingly positive.